Perry indicted on two felony charges
By Peggy Fikac, David Saleh Rauf
August 15, 2014 | Updated: August 15, 2014 6:24 p.m.
Houston Chronicle
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AUSTIN — A grand jury indicted Gov. Rick Perry on two counts Friday, accusing him of abusing his veto power by threatening to withhold funding from the Travis County's public corruption unit if the district attorney did not resign following her drunken driving arrest.
The Travis County grand jury, led by special prosecutor Mike McCrum, indicted Perry on one count of abuse of official capacity, a first-degree felony, and coercion of a public servant, a third-degree felony.
The punishment range for the first count is 5 to 99 years in prison and on the second count, 2 to 10 years in prison, McCrum said.
"I'm ready to go forward," McCrum said. Asked about the effect on Perry carrying out his duties or eyeing higher office, McCrum said, "I took into account we're talking about the governor of a state... When it gets down to it, the law is the law."
McCrum said he will meet with Perry's lawyer and the judge to set up a time for Perry to come before a court to be arraigned and be given notice of the charges against him. The date has not been set.
Calls to Perry's office and his lawyer were not immediately returned Friday evening.
Grand jurors for months have been looking into whether Perry violated the law last year when he said he'd kill funding for the Travis County district attorney's public corruption division unless District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg resigned after a messy drunken-driving arrest.
Perry carried through on the veto threat when Lehmberg stayed on the job.
Austin watchdog group Texans for Public Justice filed a complaint with prosecutors last year over Perry's threat. The group, which tracks money in politics, contended that with the threat, Perry violated laws against coercion of a public servant, abuse of official capacity, official oppression and, potentially, bribery.
Perry's office has said the veto was made in accordance with his constitutional power.
Craig McDonald, director of Texans for Public Justice, said the legal system worked.
"The grand jury decided his bullying was actually lawbreaking, just as we thought it was," McDonald said. "These were exactly the acts we believed were illegal, so the grand jury believed our complaint had merit -- and now the legal system can work. The governor will have to defend his actions in court."
Perry, who is leaving office at the end of the year, frequently is mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2016. The governor has been traveling extensively in recent months, leading observers to speculate he is gearing up for another run four years after his campaign for the Republican nomination fell apart following a series of missteps and his infamous "oops" moment during a primary debate.
Steve Munisteri, chairman of the Texas Republican Party dismissed the indictments as "political in nature."
"I think most people would feel it's not inappropriate to exercise a governor's pergoative [sic] to not appropriate funds to a governmental authority that's had a government official that's conducted themselves in a way that gives the governor pause," Munisteri said.
Asked about the effect the indictments could have on Perry's presidential prospects, Munisteri said, "He has about a year and a half to the Iowa caucuses, so certainly this needs to be resolved before that."
Most Republican voters "will feel as I do – that this was politically motivated. This is not about somebody charged with taking a bribe ... misusing government property. This is about a governor who said he didn't want to agree to appropriations for a public official who had admittedly committed a crime."
"I don't think anybody will think twice about it. Obviously, though, it'll impact him if it hasn't gone to trial or resolved prior to the 2016 season kicking into high gear. I think from his point of view he wants the quickest trial as possible."
Gilberto Hinohosa, chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, emailed a statement saying Perry should step down immediately and asking for donations to fight Republican candidates.
"The system brought justice to Rick Perry's insider politics and political swindling. Rick Perry should step down, immediately," the statement read.
"This type of crony politics has got to go in Texas. This issue doesn't stop with Governor Perry. Ken Paxton, the Republican nominee for attorney general, is also facing indictment. And Attorney General Greg Abbott has refused to rule on whether Governor Perry can use taxpayer dollars to cover his legal expenses."
The statement ends with a request for donations to ensure Democratic victories in November.
It is unusual for a governor's actions to be looked into by a grand jury, but it has happened before.
In 1917, Gov. James Edward "Pa" Ferguson was indicted on charges including misapplication of public funds, embezzlement and diversion of a special fund, according to the Handbook of Texas online. He later was impeached.
In the Sharpstown stock scandal in the early 1970s, Gov. Preston Smith was pointed to as an unindicted co-conspirator, according to the handbook.
3 comments:
I always liked Governor Perry. He executes the condemned criminals. That is all I need to know.
What Rick needs to do is be glib and flippant about the whole matter. When exonerated he should say: "not only am I honest, but I got a piece of paper to prove it!!"
Perry was Pro-Illegal Alien amnesty, and spoke lovingly of "dreamers" (who can be up to 35 years old-or however old they want to claim they are since few have a birth certificate!)
I am not getting worked up over this guy getting drop kicked, because he was happy to take the chamber of commerce slave labor 'donations' in exchange for advocating during the REPUBLICAN debate for illegal aliens to get amnesty.
Let the Kochs bail him out on this. That is who he served, not me or the interests of working class americans
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